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Canada got the last hurrah at the Celebration of Light Saturday evening, closing the three-night event with a winning display. Canada was declared the winner of the event, with Brazil and China finishing second and third, respectively.

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Much has been written and said about changes to the Elections Act that will affect voters. New identification rules mean you won’t be able to use your voter card as ID; vouching for other voters will be restricted; and the role of Elections Canada has been changed. Some of these changes have been challenged in the courts.

While driving the excellent highways between Quito and Cuenca, Ecuador can take less than six hours, (or flying the 418 kilometres in just an hour), what one gains in speed is lost bypassing some remarkable sites. This became clear last fall during a three-day, two- night road excursion organized by Metropolitan Touring.

Some 965 kilometres west of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean, the extraordinary Galápagos Islands should fascinate anyone who can handle moderate physical activity. In exchange, visitors enjoy astounding encounters with the islands’ intriguing, seemingly docile, residents. Most people also return home with a better appreciation of the Galapagos’ impact upon Charles Darwin, the intrepid naturalist whose 1835 visit contributed greatly to his beliefs that upended common concepts of evolution and theology.

Adrian Dorst, acclaimed 68-year-old nature photographer and bird lover, embarked this week on what was to be the trip of a lifetime — two months of hiking in the cloud forest around the Ecuadorean village of Mindo.

VICTORIA — When Ombudsman Jay Chalke was handed the job of investigating those botched firings in the health ministry this week, he offered multiple assurances to the public that his office would do its best to get to the bottom of the murky affair. “I am committed to a diligent and professional investigation into this matter,” he vowed in a statement issued by his office after a legislature committee referred the matter to him.